Figure 3.

Metformin induces phosphorylation of AMPK in human gastric cancer cell lines. (A): Result of protein gel blotting. Cells were first treated with or without 5 mM metformin for 48 h, and then examined by western blotting against AMPK, P(Thr172)-AMPK and P(Ser79)-ACC (Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase). P(Ser79)-ACC, the classical downstream target of AMPK, was examined as an additional control to evaluate the functional activity of AMPK. β-actin was served as the loading control. Representative image of 3 separate experiments is shown. (B-D): Densitometry and statistical analysis of panel A. Densitometry analysis was performed using the Image-J program as stated in Materials and methods. Data are shown as mean (Rectangular box) ± SD (Error bar), *, P < 0.05.